Lingusitics EU Progress: Official Language Change to "Euro-English

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The European Commission has announced that English will become the official language of the European Union, replacing German. This transition will include a five-year phase-in plan for a simplified version dubbed "Euro-English." The discussion highlights the historical resistance among Europeans to adopt a single language due to cultural pride and the complexities of language politics. While some advocate for Esperanto as a neutral alternative, others argue that English's dominance in business and technology makes it a practical choice. Concerns about the implications of enforcing a single language, such as perceived cultural superiority and historical grievances, are also raised. The conversation reflects broader themes of globalization, language evolution, and the potential for future linguistic shifts, including the possibility of Mandarin becoming more prominent. Ultimately, the debate underscores the challenges of achieving linguistic unity in a diverse continent with deep-rooted historical identities.
  • #101
mgb_phys said:
You do realize the article is a joke right?
It's a poor rip off of Mark Twain's essay ridiculing Noah Webster and others attempts to simplify and standardise American spelling.

Please read the link I have found (somewhere earlier in the thread) - while it is attributed to Twain it is not his work.
 
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  • #102
mgb_phys said:
One big advanrtage of English or German for an engineer is that it's much more effective for swearing.

I have heard Germans switching to Polish to swear :smile:
 
  • #103
Borek said:
Please read the link I have found (somewhere earlier in the thread) - while it is attributed to Twain it is not his work.

Yeah, I found a bunch of places both on the net and a couple in Google Books that attribute one of the original versions to someone named "MJ Shields" who supposedly wrote it as a letter to Economist magazine. But I couldn't find a citation of what issue of the Economist it would have come from nor any mention of it on the Economist website itself so I am suspicious of whether even that is true. There seems to be consensus that it had nothing to do with Twain.
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  • #104
JasonRox said:
Why? English is such a dirty language. So is German.

Why not like French, Spanish or Italian? Something nice.

French is horrible. Italian is boring. Spanish is cool.
 
  • #105
leopard said:
French is horrible. Italian is boring. Spanish is cool.

No way, french I like.
 
  • #106
CaptainQuasar said:
Yeah, I found a bunch of places both on the net and a couple in Google Books that attribute one of the original versions to someone named "MJ Shields" who supposedly wrote it as a letter to Economist magazine. But I couldn't find a citation of what issue of the Economist it would have come from nor any mention of it on the Economist website itself so I am suspicious of whether even that is true. There seems to be consensus that it had nothing to do with Twain.

I will post the link again:

http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j31/satires.php

A little bit more details. Not that you have to trust these :smile:
 
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  • #107
Borek said:
I have heard Germans switching to Polish to swear :smile:
That's only their best international footballers :biggrin:
 
  • #108
If you want any force in your swearing then try finnish :)

I think the whole world needs to have the same language
 
  • #109
A former boss (construction superintendent whom I later replaced) would slip into Latvian when he was particularly agitated. I didn't understand what he was saying, but his son appeared to be sufficiently impressed.

This was one tough dude. His mother and aunt came and took him out of school (a small town outside Riga) one day. The Russians had moved in, stolen all the food from the family farm, including all livestock and draft animals. The men resisted, and all his older male relatives were slaughtered. The two women struck off cross-country with this young boy, seeking refuge. Kredo told me stories of trying to glean food from picked over crop-land, to maybe find a potato or part of a turnip, etc. He also told me of days when his mother or aunt gave him part of a potato or carrot to eat, telling him "I'm not hungry". They were angels, and he showed them extreme deference in their later years.

When the Nazis came through Latvia, Latvian men volunteered for service (often in poorly-equipped suicide squads) not because they liked the Germans, but because they wanted revenge on the Russians.
 

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